Tuesday’s Buzz: 10.11.11

Students have found an increased security presence at football tailgates this fall as administrators crack down on underage drinking.

A committee of administrators in Yale College and the Athletics Department instituted new tailgate regulations in August for this year’s football season that, most notably, require all tailgaters to present valid identification to receive a wristband denoting whether they are of legal drinking age. Four leaders of undergraduates organizations interviewed all said they understand the administration’s desire to decrease illegal activity, but 12 of 18 students who attended Saturday’s tailgate said they think the regulations have not reduced underage drinking.

When the Bladderball broke loose on Old Campus this year, Yale police and administrators were more prepared for its arrival than they had been in 2009. Yale Police Department Chief Ronnell Higgins said in a Monday email that officers were on alert for the game on Saturday, and though Yale police largely kept students and passersby safe — making no arrests and receiving no reports of injury after the game — they and other University administrators were unable to suppress the 11-minute event.

Three weeks ago, Ernesto Garcia and four employees arrived at the corner of York and Elm streets with a new food cart: Ay Arepa. The name might sound familiar. In June 2009 Garcia, his brother Franco Gonzales and Gonzales’ wife Yani Acosta started serving Latin American cuisine at a restaurant called Ay Salsa. But after Gonzales and Acosta divorced, Garcia decided the time had come to run his own business.